Wire fence



No. 623,841. Patented Apr. 25, I899. E. F. SHELLABERGER WIRE FENCE.

(Applicaticn filed Sept. 26, 1898.)

(No Model.)

"n az nonms PETERS ca, PHOTO-HTML, WASHINGTON, u, c.

UNTTED STATES PATENT EEIcE.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,841, dated April 25, 1899.

Application filed September 26, 1898. erial No. 691,874. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. SHELLABER- GER, of De Kalb, in the county of De Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Fences, of which the following is a specification.

lhis invention relates to wire fabrics, and more particularly to a woven-wire fabric for fences having a plurality of longitudinal strands or cables connected vertically by tie or stay wires; and my invention relates more specifically to the character of the joint for interconnecting the stay-wires and the line wires or cables. There are two important considerations in providing a joint of this character, which may be stated as follows: First, the tie or stay must be so connected to the cable as to prevent the slipping of the tiewires or the movement of the cables up and down thereon and which will also prevent the movement of the tie or stay wires along the cables. Second, the joint when the fabricis used for field-fencing should be of such a character as to give a certain degree of flexibility in the fabric, so as to permit the fence to be stretched up over uneven ground without bending or buckling the tie or stay wires. 130th of these objects may be obtained in a fence which can be economically constructed in accordance with my invention.

I preferably employ as the longitudinal elements of the fabric a series of wire cables, each composed of two wires twisted together, the cables being arranged parallel to each other, and as the vertical elements of the fabric stay or tie wires, each composed of a single wire interlocked with the cables at the points of intersection, each tie or stay wire having formed therein laterally ofiset loops or bends, the extremities or crowns of which are embraced between the strands of the cable and the ends of the loops or bends or the bodies of the tie or stay adjacent thereto being turned, respectively, over and under the cable-wires and thence extended in opposite directions to the adjacent cable, whereby each tie or stay has a joint so constructed'that lateral movement of the ties or stays with reference to the cable is prevented by the loop or bend embraced between the twists of the cable and vertical movement of the cable is prevented by the turning of the ends of the loop or bend or the body of the tie or stay about both strands of the cable, thereby affordin g a suitable resistant to strain and preventing the members of the joint from becoming disconnected.

I am aware that it is not new at this date to provide a fence fabric having cables and stay-wires interlocked by open eyes or loops embraced between the strands of the cable, with the cable-strands partially embraced between the bodies and end portions of such loops. Such a construction is shown in my Patent No. 572,317, of December 1, 1896; but it is possible in that construction to disconnect or separate the members of the joint by strain upon the cables which would cause one of the strands thereof to pass out of the embrace of the loop and the body of the stay. My present invention, however, affords a safeguard against this disconnection of the members of the joint, as according to my present invention the crown of the loop is embraced between the strands of the cable and both strands of the cable are embraced by the end portions of the loop, and the strain will therefore be upon both strands, thus affording a secure lock and a definite and positive means of preventing the separation of the members of the joint.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in elevation of a section of fabric constructed in accordance there with. Fig. 2 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 1, the cable-strands being in section and the tie or stay in side elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the joint in side elevation; Fig. 4, a perspective View of the same, still further enlarged; and Fig. 5 is a modification wherein an additional turn or wrap of the end portions of the loop or bend around the cable-strands is shown.

In the drawings let A represent the cablestrands and B the ties or stays. Each cable is composed of two wires a a',twisted together, and each tie or stay has formed in its body portion at the point of connection with the cable a laterally-offset bend or loop Z), the crown of which is embraced between the wires a a, while the end portions of the loop are turned, respectively, over and under the cable-wires, as indicated at 1) b thus giving the body portions of the tie or stay wires a direct pull or bearing upon bot-h members of the cable. It will be seen that a secure joint is th us afforded because the extremity or crown of the loop or bend is embraced between the cable-strands and that both of the strands of the cable are also embraced by the end portions of the bends or loops.

\Vhile the provision of a joint wherein the tics or stays have a bearing" upon both strands of the cable is the essential feature of my invention, it is obviously within the scope thereof to form an additional coil or coils of the end portions of the loops around such strands. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 5, the additional coil being represented at 11 1!, and of course any numberof coils within the limits of economy would embody this essential feature of my invention.' In this construction it is not necessary to bend the stays preliminary to feeding them between the strands of the cables, and the joint may be formed by the simple twisting of the cables, the staywires being fed in straight, and therefore the fabric may be economically produced.

I do not, of course, limit my invention to any particular means or method of manufacture, nor to any Width of fabric, number of cable-wires, size or form of the bends or loops, or the number of turns or coils of the ends thereof. The number of bends, wraps, or coils willdepend somewhat upon the purpose for which the fabric is used, the size of wire and other considerations.

I claim- A fence fabric, comprising, in combination, a series of longitudinal cables, each composed of a plurality of strands, and a series of tie or stay wires, each tie or stay having formed in its body portion at the juncture with the cable a bend or loop extending at an angle to the body of the tie-wire and parallel to the cable and having the crown thereof embraced between the strands of the cable, and the end portions of said bend or loop being turned respectively over and under and embracing both strands of the cable and extending therefrom in opposite directions to the adjacent cable, substantially as described.

EDWARD F. SHELLABERGER.

W i tn esses:

C. C. LINTHICUM,

L. HUBER. 

